UPDATE (7 Jul): The 19-year-old teen was sentenced to 9 months’ probation after he pleaded guilty to 2 counts of harassment.
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Many people, both young and old, can be super passionate about their favourite sports teams, so cheering them on is a huge part of their lives.
There’s a fine line between being passionate and being downright malicious. And we should do our best to stay on the positive side of things.
Singaporean teen Derek Ng De Ren, 19, was charged in court on Monday (3 May) for making online threats to kill Neal Maupay, a Brighton football player, and his family.
And if you’re wondering how he got nabbed, it was the English Premier League (EPL) who reached out to the Singapore Police Force (SPF) about this.
On 20 Jun 2020, Arsenal’s prized goalkeeper Bernd Leno was injured while attempting to save a goal from Brighton & Hove Albion forward Maupay.
After watching this, Derek decided to unleash his frustration on the French player by sending a series of threats.
According to The Straits Time (ST), Derek sent a message via Instagram to Maupay stating, “You think you can get away for injuring Leno? No way in hell bruv…”
“It’s more fun watching you feel pain when your loved ones go through suffering.”
Derek also sent other threatening messages on 26 Jun 2020, saying things like,
Your family will be attacked later in the day, just watch.
On 1 Jul 2020, the teen took it one step further by sending threatening messages involving Maupay’s family. He allegedly wrote, “I will kill you and your family”.
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), EPL picked up Derek’s messages to Maupay after they received reports via its online abuse reporting system.
In Aug 2020, EPL said investigators successfully tracked the location of the person responsible, who is based in Singapore.
They updated that they were liaising with local authorities and “will support all subsequent legal action on behalf of Maupay.”
Derek is facing 4 charges under Singapore’s Protection from Harassment Act, and he intends to plead guilty to all.
His case has been adjourned to 31 May.
For each count of harassment, an offender can be jailed for up to 6 months, fined up to $5,000, or both.
In this digital age, it’s easy for us to voice our opinions with a few clickity clacks on our keyboards. Although social media is a great medium to show support for your team, it’s also an easy way to vent your anger.
But at the end of the day, football stars are humans too, and we as outsiders will never know the internal struggles they have in their lives.
It’s easy to hide behind a screen, but sometimes it’s better to take a deep breath and just be nice to others, and that includes professional players too. Stop cyberbullying.
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps and Facebook.
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